Carole Pankau
1287 St. Andrew Circle
Itasca, IL 60143
630-250-8123
people4pankau@aol.com, OR peopleforpankau@gmail.com

Introduction:

I want to first thank everyone for being here, after serving the public for over 20 years, I know how much time and effort it takes to attend events and functions month after month, but you play a very important role, and I am going to need your help.

Hundreds of people have asked me ‘Carole why are you running for DuPage Chairman, we need you in Springfield fighting for us.’ My answer to them is that I want to make the next four years, the last four years of my public service the capstone of my career, I want to work full time, day in and day out to make DuPage county the shining Jewel of a Illinois.

In DuPage County we have an incredible opportunity to make changes to stretch your investment in our county, and when I say investment, I mean your tax dollars, in my opinion a tax dollar is an investment in our government. I graduated from the U of I with an accounting degree, then, when I served on the county board for eight years, I worked for five of those years on the County Budget. I went to Springfield as a State Representative, again worked on the Appropriations Committee, as State Senator I continued my work on fiscal management and served on the Appropriations committee. I learned that we must measure every single program in government to make sure we are getting a return on our investment. We must do this in our County, if there are no positive results, then we need to get rid of that program.

When I you elect me to serve as DuPage Chairman, I will work to implement zero-based budgeting. No other unit of Government in Illinois that I know of utilized zero-based budgeting, not a city, not a township, not a county, I want to make DuPage FIRST! Once we start our budget from scratch, I will make it me duty to scrutinize every individual expenditure we make, each year there are well over 30,000 different expenditures the County makes. We MUST look at each one.

Earlier, I had mentioned I need your help. I can’t do this alone, I can’t bring zero based budgeting to our County by myself, I can’t scrutinize every expenditure without your help, I can not, without you, work to stretch your investment in County Government, I can not measure every program to insure we are getting a return on investment unless you offer to help me. I know that DuPage is a Jewel of a county, but I think it can be the shining Jewel of Illinois, but in order to do that I need your help and your vote. Thank you

1. Please describe the functions and responsibilities of the office you seek and explain why you are qualified to hold that office.

The current DuPage County Board Chairman continually highlights the consistent property tax reductions in the county government line item while maintaining all aspects of county government services. Like anything in Government, everything can and should be improved. In order to continue moving DuPage County forward, we need to elect a Chairman with a strong background dealing with fiscal and money management issues. I am that candidate.

I believe that DuPage County residents want the County Chairman to prove to them that every tax dollar they are already paying to DuPage County is being used wisely, efficiently and effectively. My accounting degree from the University of Illinois, my eight years of experience as a county board member (with five of those years spent preparing the County Budget), and my 17 years as a member of the General Assembly, has given me a solid foundation of experience to lead DuPage County. None of the other candidates in this race has the mix of experience with the emphasis on money and money management that I have. I will be a full time County Board Chairman. I will leverage my experience and full-time energy to turn our “Jewel” of a county into the “Shining Jewel” of Illinois.

2. Do you see a need to reduce expenses in DuPage County government? If so, what do you propose?

There is a great need in ALL government to look at the money we spend and ensure that all tax dollars are being spent wisely. We must use private sector tools to measure EVERY program in government to ensure each tax dollar is being used efficiently and effectively. If the results of a program or initiative are not positive, then we need to look at streamlining or public – private partnerships.

As DuPage Chairman, I will work to implement zero-based budgeting. Once we start our budget from scratch, I will make sure that every expenditure our County makes is not only necessary, but also used efficiently and effectively. Zero based budgeting will expose how and where cuts can be made. DuPage residents and taxpayers deserve to know that each and every tax dollar they send to DuPage County is being stretched as far as possible.

3. Indicate some environmentally friendly endeavors you want the county to pursue. How important are utilizing environmental friendly building standards and practices in new construction? Would you support this even if it meant increased construction costs?

While I believe that the major building days of County owned facilities are over, and that the County complex is complete, I believe that we can utilize new and emerging technologies to create standards that are more environmentally friendly. I have proposed changing all the lights in County owned and operated facilities to LED Lights. Most LED lights will improve energy efficiency by 80-90%. This is a good change to help our environment, as well as saving the taxpayers of our county hundreds of thousands of dollars in electricity costs.

4. Given the current economic climate, would you support a salary freeze or reduction for DuPage County elected officials?

Yes.

5. What three specific initiatives would you like to accomplish during the upcoming term in office?
Government Ethics Reform (Putting People First) as a basis for Good Government.

6. What is the best way for county government to advance economic development and create jobs?

From day one I will take two immediate steps to help our local businesses and our residents. I will open up the DuPage County Job Board to allow all units of government in DuPage County to post employment opportunities in one centralized spot. This will make it easier for people to apply for government openings while also increasing the pool of quality applicants. I will also work to engage the 118 major corporations that call DuPage County their home in a yearly Job Fair sponsored by the County. I will get companies from Ace Hardware to Office Max to BP to Navistar to work with the County to help our residents get good paying local jobs.

I will make it a staple of our next four years to poach business from Cook County. I was talking with a friend of mine, she owns a trucking and warehousing company in Cook County, and she would love nothing more then to move her company and those 100 jobs to a county where taxes are lower and the quality of the work force is better. I say ‘Let’s go get those companies and bring them to DuPage!’

I looked at a poll a few weeks ago and this poll asked ‘Do lower taxes help grow the economy?’ Almost 80% of the people who responded said YES! Many in DuPage County tout the ‘Choose DuPage’ program, which is directed at attracting businesses to DuPage County.

I think this is a good first step, but I want to up the ante.

Buy Local, Buy DuPage. Did you know that in 2008 there was $17.2 billion in total retail sales in DuPage County? I want to institute a buy local campaign, asking every resident to spend $2 per day in DuPage that they would have normally spent in another county. This is not much, this is a bagel and orange juice in the morning and this is less then a gallon of milk you grab on the way home from work. Those two dollars per person add up. If every resident would commit to buying local, we will see a total net increase in 728 million dollars a year come into our local economy; an almost 5% increase. When business owners know that residents are committed to supporting local businesses, they will move to DuPage, bringing with them new jobs and new jobs means more income, so we can constantly improve our “Jewel” of a county to make it the “Shining Jewel” of Illinois.